Best of Abroad

I was out to lunch yesterday with the whole ICS group, because the head of our program decided to treat us to an "end of the semester" meal. In various conversations we discussed how our finals were going, where we've traveled, how we liked the time in Denmark, etc. A couple times I was asked a question that surprisingly struck me as tough to answer: What was the biggest difference from the U.S. in my experience with Denmark? Now, this question wasn't tough to answer in the sense that I couldn't think of anything different between the two nations. As a matter of fact, there is too much difference to remember. Rather, I had a hard time remembering the everyday characteristics of my home and life in the U.S. I've become so accustomed and comfortable with Danish ways that they have begun to replace my previous niche. This isn't to say I do not miss Ory-gun, but that I have placed some roots in the little city of Aalborg.

Despite how difficult I found the question, I did come up with a few responses. One major distinction I've noticed between the two is this: I have learned through my interactions with Danes and through my studies that they are taught independence at a much younger age than the typical American. Even in their equivalent to elementary school, the children often decide what it is they want to do for class. Nap time? Take a walk outside? Learn the alphabet? What shall we eat today? Older Danes I've talked to about this tell me they want to give their children space to decide what it is they want to learn about life and how they will learn it. The results I've noticed are adolescents living on their own at a younger age, having the choice to drink at a younger age, less rebellion and less parental influence on their children's chosen path.

I came to realize during my time here that there are socially constructed ideas about one's home culture that is truly taken for granted. Some things I just assumed would be the same in Denmark, like walking down the street for example. At home (Portland, Salem, most places I've been in the U.S.) people seem to be fairly aware of their surroundings and the paths of those around them. When you walk down the street and someone is walking towards you, one or the other moves. When you open a door to walk through, those on the other side wait their turn or for you to hold the door for them. In even better situations, someone will hold the door for you. In Denmark, I walk down the street and I am always the one to move and if not the other will barely move enough for me to squeeze by. I open a door and even if I am halfway through, someone on the other side will just push their way through as if they are oblivious. No one has held the door for me (something I really noticed when I went to Scotland and gentlemen were constantly letting me pass first) and people in grocery aisles will stand in the middle to think about what they want..leaving no room to pass. At first this custom was very frustrating and I felt like everyone was just rude. However, it's now obvious to me that just as our way of moving around people in the U.S. works for us, the Danish way works for them. I can't judge I suppose, but adapt and learn.

These are only a few examples of the difference in cultures, of course, but I'll leave it here for now.
After I used these answers to the question posed, I told the inquirers that I would be more able to answer once I returned home and began remembering the aspects of my life in the U.S....which I will be back to soon! Weird.

Ciao!

Posted by Megan E Buchanan at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm sitting here at about 1:00 am and thinking it's just as dark at 4:00 pm as it is now. I remember hearing about the cold darkness of Denmark's wintertime and dreading the idea of only a few hours of daylight. However looking back now, I can't say it has affected me much more than wintertime at WU. In fact, the days are clearer and it hasn't rained much at all yet. When the sun does go down, it is replaced with thousands of Christmas lights and ornaments decorating the entire city. I told my friend the other day, if it's got to be dark here in the wintertime at least the old city of Aalborg looks pretty at night.

Santa and his elves have even come from Greenland for a couple weeks visit. They have set up shop in a little Christmas Village that has overtaken one of the city's plazas along with an ice-skating rink! I am personally very excited about trying this out. After all, I've only been once and I held onto one of those metal bar things to keep on my feet...like training wheels for ice-skates. Also, as a sort of gift to Aalborg residents, public transportation is now free on Sundays until the end of the month. This is actually very helpful considering how expensive a one time bus pass is (16 DKK which is about 3.50).

Most of the long nights here are spent practicing Hygge-- the Danish word for relaxation, snug and cozy or comfort. My friends and I are constantly making big feasts together, having home-spa nights, or playing games like Norwegian Monopoly. I've become a fan of small gatherings, movie nights, sitting around the kitchen table with my roommates and a cup of tea, and even cooking! Yeah, I sound like an old lady...so sue me. While I'm a fan of going out, taking risks and am more than excited for upcoming travels and adventures, I've been learning that the simple things in life, if in good company, can be just as enjoyable.

Besides hygge, I do work. With all of my homework these days, at least really nice warm weather isn't taunting me to come outside and play. However, my workload hasn't been nearly this heavy the entire time I've been in Aalborg. The university system here is very unique but not necessarily in a good way. The first two months of my stay in Aalborg I spent attending classes I didn't have to go to if I didn't want and learning almost nothing. The readings were not mandatory and fairly surface-level and there were no other assignments. I was lucky if I got a professor who sounded engaged in the subject-- though there were a couple who made going to class much less painful. On top of lame curriculum, my program is completely unorganized. In all honesty, we were basically told to "go to school, but let's have a beer first" leaving too many questions and concerns unanswered. While, a more relaxed vibe from a university was welcome on my part, this university is way too relaxed. Even if we pose questions, no one can or wants to answer them. I'm talking relevant questions that should obviously be figured out before launching a program and bringing in students from all over the world to study in it. The response is usually "Hmm, yeah...That's interesting. I'll look into that and get back to you," which usually never happens. I've practically had to corner them in their office with the door locked to get them to even consider my question. That is a little drastic, but it's almost that bad. Needless to say, now classes are over and I am all of a sudden up to my neck in work. At least I enjoy the topics I have to spend so much time researching and writing about, though they have almost no correlation whatsoever with the classes I took.

The university system here has left me thinking a lot about my time at Willamette. I have much more respect for the way Willamette presents itself and encourages students. Even if the "independent student" is what Aalborg University encourages, they don't give enough incentive or motivation to make students interested and ambitious. Here a student can barge in the classroom 15 minutes late, on their cell phone, sit down and start talking to their neighbor. At WU, it's more likely a professor would tell a student who tried to sneak in quietly 5 minutes late to not even bother coming in. Maybe the difference is students here are paid by the government to be enrolled in university, where as we pay an un-Godly amount for education. In any case, even the Danes feel Aalborg University needs to improve it's plan of attack. On top of that, in my experience Willamette's classes are engaging and if the information isn't usually the professor is. We do work that keeps us on our toes and motivated the entire semester, where as here no one does anything until the end when it all hits at once. Another characteristic about Willamette that I've come to truly respect is it's community awareness and engagement-- student community and otherwise. There are always so many events and awareness campaigns going on at Willamette that it's hard to choose between them. At AAU, students are lucky if a speaker comes into town once or twice a semester and they use non-recyclable and non-reusable PLASTIC for everything! I truly wish I had some things to boast about AAU, but the reality is I am not impressed in the least. However, what this university experience has given me is a respect for the "Willamette Bubble" that I think I lost amidst the stress of past semesters. So, my advice to you other Bearcats is take as much out of your time at Willamette as you possibly can and bring it with you into the world, because many opportunities won't be available to you elsewhere.

Excuse the rant. Even though I am here to study and the study is not up to par, I have been enjoying myself otherwise. I learn from the amazing people I meet and the new things I experience everyday. Most of this knowledge couldn't be taught in a classroom anyway and I consider it priceless. I feel like I've been catching up from he lack of "world history" taught in the American education system (in my experience anyway).

For now, I will say ciao. Hygge calls :)

Megan

P.S. There are 2 pigs for every Dane in Denmark.

Posted by Megan E Buchanan at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yet another belated post..

11/6/2008

Well hey,

The Obama win has left me thinking of home a lot these last couple of days and I decided it's about time I send you all another email. I must say I haven't missed home like I did on November 4th (and 5th for me) since my first few days in Aalborg. I wish I could have been in the midst of election day chaos, passion and celebration. Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic celebration with my American and international friends. A small group of us camped out at a friend's flat, stayed up all night watching the results of the campaign on a laptop and celebrated every time we moved a little closer to victory. The final results for the presidential race came at about 5:30am and that's when the real celebration began. My American friends and I put on a silly show for the others in the room--dancing, jumping up and down, hugging, laughing, screaming, crying--for about two hours straight. We watched McCain's concession speech, which I was only a little impressed by. But Barack Obama's acceptance speech, as cliche as it may sound, moved me. I have never in my life felt so proud of Americans. I have never felt proud of BEING an American until now, though I have always wanted to be. I completely understand that the change we need isn't miraculously here because Barack Obama is our new president, but the man inspires me and he has obviously inspired so many other Americans. That is what will bring about change. He builds the will in people and the people make the change. He has also--overnight--lifted such a scarred reputation off the shoulders of our country. The world was holding its breath and is now so happy with our choice. People everywhere are celebrating. Kenya even made (Thursday) a national holiday for what Obama has accomplished. I've witnessed it myself. I'm around international students all day long and am constantly questioned about my country's politics. Usually I feel a bit embarrassed or wary of saying that I'm an American, but already (two days after the election) I'm seeing people's faces brighten when they hear it. Anyway, I'm proud of the way he campaigned and I'm proud of Americans for electing him (by a landslide). Though I don't envy the man; he's got a lot of work to do.

As for everything else, the Danish life has settled inside of me. I like it here. During the first couple of weeks, as I watched international students trickle into Aalborg, I began to realize that I was not alone in my stresses over adjustment to the new life. The confusion and homesickness I recognized in everyone around me made me understand that it's just a phase you go through when you move away from everything familiar and things do pick up quickly. I learned that I was placed in a very lucky spot--right downtown. The uni is about 5 km from my flat and most people live out there. That means that they have to take the bus into town to do anything, and the busses don't run very late. My four flatmates are all beautiful, warmhearted and fun. One is from Italy (she and I love to exchange recipes..mm Italian cooking), one from Russia and two from Norway. We've grown into a sort of family at this point and are always watching out for each other. I've learned that I can't leave for the weekend without telling them or they'll practically send out a search mission.

I've made great friends from all over the world and have learned much more from conversations with them than I have in the classroom. We are constantly asking about each other's home country, or traditions or even use of language. My Aussie friend has a different word for everything: counter=bench, dinner=tea, hick=bogan, to lift is to hoik and so on; Italians take their food very seriously and the Danish love to drink. I've also learned a lot about the U.S. by simply explaining it to others. At home, when I was surrounded by Americans, I never felt confident that I knew much about the system or the nation's history. I think in the U.S., we aren't constantly discussing or thinking about the everyday aspects of American life. Here I find myself describing the political system, the traditions and history to my international friends who are always inquiring and I realize that I know more than I thought. So, I spend most of my time meeting new people and learning about the world (or taking a walk around the city). One very popular thing to do here among international students is to throw dinner parties. Almost every other day I am invited to or hosting an international dinner for friends. I've had everything from Norwegian porridge to authentic Italian lasagna to moose (my vegetarianism has definitely suffered here) and I've made plenty of dishes for everyone as well. The funny eggs, baked macaroni and cheese, and chocolate chip cookies were a big hit.

The Danes are another story. I found that their community is much harder to breech than expected. The Danes are a very comfortable and content people. When they have found their niche, they don't feel the need to branch out. This isn't to say they are mean or selfish people. They are just shy in a sense and if you take the first step in getting to know them, they are very kind and welcoming. In fact, the Danes describe themselves with the word hygge, which means cozy, content, secure, familiar, etc. About a month ago I was invited on a trip out to a beach cabin that the university arranges for new Danish students every year. On this trip, I got to know many Danes and finally understood the meaning of hygge. Though I am generalizing, it's proved true with all of my Danish friends. They are very friendly, but you have to break into their niche to know it.

I have travelled a bit already. In the beginning I went somewhere every weekend. I don't think I spent one weekend in Aalborg for about a month straight. I went to Germany twice; one story you know, and the other trip was to visit a very good friend (Felice DuBois for those of you who know her). Another friend of mine stopped by on his trip around Europe and we spent a weekend in Amsterdam, which was incredible. We took a tour of the beautiful city and then a night tour of the Red Light District which was my favorite part of the trip. I learned so much about how prostitution works in The Netherlands, and have a completely different perspective on it than I did before. Though the Netherlands have made prostitution an intriguing sort of employment, too many human rights risks exist in that sort of profession for me to be comfortable with the idea of legalization. We also visited the Anne Frank House, the Van Gogh Museum, a Sex Museum and other places. Another weekend I spent discovering Denmark's hip and artsy city Arhus where I checked out a great exhibit called Music To See (a compilation of music videos from famous producers), the Old Town and some great festivals. I also visited the very tip of Denmark, a beautiful coastal town called Skagen, where I climbed in old German bunkers from WWII and stood at the point where the Baltic Sea and the North Sea meet. I didn't expect to actually see two bodies of water colliding, but I swear the waves ran right into each other from either side. For our Fall Break, six friends and I road-tripped through Norway, which at this point was my favorite trip of all. We spent the entire week in little cabins and hiking through magnificent scenery. Picture Glacier National Park in the fall--the mountains were on fire with red, yellow and orange. Norway in a nutshell is mountains, fjords, massive waterfalls around every corner and tunnels. Absolutely beautiful. However, the Norway trip is a long story that would make this already ridiculously long email much much longer. So ask me about it sometime if you're interested. This month I've got way too much school work to be traveling, but I will again in December. I have plane tickets to London where I will spend a day and then take a train to Edinburgh (to see Ian!) for three days. On the 20th I am flying to Prague where I'll be for a few days. Then I'm going to Britagne, France (to see Genna Hall!!) for Christmas and Paris for New Years. Yes, I am excited!

For now, I'm going to enjoy the hygge of Danish wintertime and get back to writing my papers!

One last note..GOBAMA!!!

Ciao.

P.S. my friend made this great joke about Norway: one person says to the other "You going to Norway?" and the other says "No(r)way! I can't afjord it!!"

Posted by Megan E Buchanan at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just as a fore-note, this post is a compilation of emails that I sent when I arrived. So, please excuse the late dates.

8/27/08
I left PDX at about 7:30 am Friday morning, after forcing myself to stay awake all night. I expected to land in New Jersey sometime around 3:40pm and catch a flight to Copenhagen at 5:25pm. If any of you know the stakes of traveling you know things can go wrong. Well things went wrong, terribly wrong. My flight to New Jersey ended up having to circle around above Ohio for an hour or so in hopes of avoiding a storm over Jersey. We ended up circling for so long we had to land in Philadelphia to refuel. Every few minutes the captain would say something like "we will be receiving an update in about 45 minutes" over the intercom. Forty-five minutes eventually became about 5 hours. Yes, almost 200 people sat on a hot, stuffy and STATIONARY airplane for 5 hours. However, I was impressed by how patient everyone was with the crew. Eventually we took off again and braved the lightning and turbulence, which there was a lot of. When we landed in Newark I discovered my flight had left a long time before...without me on it. Well, most of the airport was chaotic due to all the delays and since I've never really traveled alone before I was pretty worked up myself. A very nice lady from Camas, WA helped me re-orient myself and find the long line I had to stand in to figure out the next step to take. I ended up standing in that line for about 3 hours and I was near the beginning. It turned out the next flight to Copenhagen didn't leave until 5:25pm the next day. So, they put me up in a fairly nice hotel room and I spent the night in New Jersey. My flight to Copenhagen ended up being delayed a couple of hours, but after everything else that wait seemed like nothing. After 8 or so hours on the plane I took a 4 and a half hour train ride to Aalborg. Considering it's Sunday, I can't check in with the school until tomorrow. So, I used good old couchsurfing.com and found a couple of people to take me in for one night. One of them actually picked me up from the station and is now fussing over me (cleaning his house and feeding me and what not). It was quite a ridiculous journey, but if it weren't for aeroplanes and their ports, I wouldn't be here! Aalborg is a very cool city; quaint might be a better word.

Anyway, I made it!

8/21/08
So, my one night of couchsurfing actually turned into about 5 nights. On Monday, after lugging my ridiculously heavy baggage up 7 flights of stairs (second floor here really means 3rd), I checked into my apartment only to find it void of roommates and without electricity or a working wireless connection. Fortunately, as I was wandering the streets of Aalborg later that day I ran into Martin (one of my couchsurfing hosts) who invited me to stay as long as I needed until things started to settle for me. Since then I have only spent one night in my apartment. Martin and Rahul have been lifesavers thus far. I haven't been able to navigate very well, considering nothing here is in English. So, the two of them have taken me in, fed me, given me tours of the city and the university and as much information about living here as they can muster AND they have helped me with my apartment troubles. Without them I would be severely overwhelmed. As stoked as I am to be living in a foreign country, stepping completely out of my comfort zone has been more trying than I expected. I've come to realize how much I value the company of familiar faces and environments, what homesickness truly feels like and that I've been a bit naive about the fact that I really haven't ever been on my own before. However, I think doing this alone is going to be very good for me. It has forced me to ask for and accept help even if I feel stupid about it and to be extra-outgoing. I met someone the other day who was shocked when I told them I came to Denmark alone and don't know a soul. He told me I am very brave, which in itself was surprisingly encouraging. Yesterday was a better day. Martin showed me around some more and then I met with my "buddy," Kathrine, who was assigned by the university. She was very nice, closer to my age than Martin and Rahul, and not to mention a girl! It's nice to have some female company. She took me to a few places in Aalborg I haven't seen yet like the street of bars and the Aalborg Castle. The castle looks more like the Danish form of a plantation home than a place of royalty, but it was still beautiful. Kathrine also helped me shop for groceries by translating when I couldn't figure out what an item was. I was a little disappointed when I discovered peanut butter is a rarity in Denmark (Kathrine has only tried it once and didn't like it). Later in the evening I made dinner with Rahul, who gave me a cell phone, and then met Kathrine and her friends at an International Students Night event. I still have no electricity or roommates and don't really want to spend much time at my apartment yet, but tonight Martin is hosting a couchsurfer dinner at which I will have the opportunity to meet more people.

Posted by Megan E Buchanan at 02:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)